How to Shorten the Chain on a Chandelier

There are two basic types of chandeliers, including one that plugs into a socket and one that wires into the fixture itself. Learn about shortening a chain on a chandelier with two pairs of pliers with help from a certified home inspector in this free video on home carpentry.

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Video Transcript

Hello, my name is Mark Blocker, in this segment we're going to cover how to shorten a chain on a chandelier. O.k, there's two basic types of chandeliers, one's a type that plugs into a socket right next to its hanging device or maybe on a wall down the side and the other is a hardwire, one that wires right into the fixture itself. In either case shortening the chain is going to be the same, it's going to require a couple of different wiring techniques to rehang the chandelier depending on which type you have. But, to shorten the chain, they're all the same. You're going to need a couple of tools and most all of the chandelier chains are lightweight natured, so this can be done with two pair of pliers, it doesn't matter if they're the same type, needle nose, alignment, standard pliers, channel locks, it really doesn't matter. After you determine how many links you want to remove, how much you want to shorten it, what you want to do is if you'll look at the length, you'll find a split in the middle on one side. Where that's split at, you'll want to hold it on one side with a pair of pliers and grab the link, there we go, grab the link on the other side with the other pair of pliers, and with just a twisty motion we can twist the link and open it up so it can be removed. That's how we remove the link, now as you see, the power cord if it's still wound through one of your links, you're going to need to open up the link on that one as well to remove it from the power cord. If your power cord doesn't have an electrical connector on the end, it can be simply slid down through the link and left out and it will have to be hardwired back into your system and that's how you shorten a chain on a chandelier.